Combat Simulation Gaming System

ABSTRACT

The present invention is a system for conducting a combat simulation game in which each player is outfitted with equipment enabling data concerning the game play ability of the player to be transmitted to a local server for use in computing a player performance data for individual players in comparison with all other players having data stored within the system. The equipment transmits various data to the server which is utilized by the server to update the player performance data in a real-time manner that can be accessed and viewed by other players from remote locations.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/338,560, filed on Dec. 18, 2008, which claims priority fromprovisional patent application Ser. No. 61/105,481, filed on Oct. 15,2008, the entirety of which is expressly incorporated by referenceherein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to combat simulation games, and morespecifically to a system and apparatus to conduct a game and to relayinformation about the game play of an individual to a central processingunit.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In prior art combat simulation games, such as laser tag and paintballgames, players attempt to “shoot” one another with beams of light orprojectiles to remove players from an opposing team from the game. Whenstruck with a paintball, the resulting spot of paint on the playerindicates that the player has been hit and must be removed from activegame play.

When beams of light are utilized as the simulated projectile, the lightbeam strikes a suitable receiver on or worn by the player, which sensesthe beam and provides an indication that the player has been struck bythe beam, such as by energizing a light on the player.

While both of these systems of playing combat simulation games areadequate to effectively play the game, each has certain deficiencies.For example, when utilizing paintballs as the projectile, sometimes thepaintball will not break upon striking an individual, so the player isincorrectly not removed from the game, or will break on a non-playerobject, such as a tree or other structure used in the game play, andwill splatter onto the player, resulting in the player being incorrectlyremoved from the game.

The use of IR or laser beams overcomes certain of these problems becausethe beams will not bounce off of objects or players, reducing theoccurrences of incorrect results concerning the removal of a player.However, even when using IR or laser beams certain problems arise, suchas the limited number of locations available on the player to receiveand register the IR or laser beam due to the weight of the receivers.

Additionally, regardless of the manner of projectile utilized in thegame play, one significant deficiency in the manner of game play arisesin the ability to effectively monitor the game play as it is occurring,as well as to rank individual player on their performances during gameplay. While it is currently possible to track the performance of aplayer based on the length of time a player remains in the game, and thenumber of kills a player makes through observations of the player duringgame play, it is desirable to develop a gaming system that allows for amore complete analysis of the game play of an individual, and to alsoenable that analysis to be utilized in ranking the player moreaccurately based on the actual game play of the individual as it isoccurring, which can also be compared to and viewed by other players.

Therefore, it is desirable to develop a system to be utilized in playinga combat simulation game that provides the capability to monitor thegame play of an individual player, while also enabling the game playstatistics to be recorded and viewed by other individuals who are notparticipating in the game play, to provide detailed player performancedata for individuals playing the game with one another as well as withother players who are not participating in the present game play, buthave participated in prior recorded game play on the system.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect of the present invention, each playerparticipating in the simulated combat game is outfitted with a gunincluding an infrared (IR) beam transmitter and a receiver that includesa display thereon. The transmitter is capable of sending out encoded IRbeams that identify the player from which they came, such that when anopposing player is struck by the beam, the receiver on that player canregister the beam as coming from the specific player. In addition, thereceiver for each player transmits a record of the shot that was madeand the hit to a central command server which registers the hit on theplayer, and the player who shot the beam. Thus, the central commandserver can register automatically all of the shots taken andcorresponding hits made during game play corresponding to who was hitand who made the shot in a highly accurate manner. This information canalso be displayed directly on the displays of both the player who madethe shot and the player who was struck to provide an indication of thesuccessful hit.

Furthermore, the transmitter on the gun is operably connected to thereceiver, such that each time a player depresses the trigger of the gunto attempt a shot on another player, the gun transmits a signal to thecentral command server of the particular shot, regardless of whether theshot results in a hit in an opposing player. In this manner, the numberof shots taken by an individual player is recorded by the server inaddition to the number of hits made by that particular player.

According to another aspect of the present invention, both during andafter game play, the central command server is operably connected to theInternet, such that the results being transmitted to the central commandserver are available for review in a real-time manner by other playersin a variety of locations.

According to still another aspect of the preset invention, the resultsreceived by the system from the individual players can be reviewed andused to compute relative player performance data, such as rankings, forthe various players in the system in the same real-time manner. Thesystem also allows for the game play statistics and results utilized inthe computation of the player performance data to be received frommultiple combat simulation game sites at which separate but simultaneousgame play is occurring. In addition, other players at remote locationsthat are not participating in a combat simulation game can access thesystem to watch a particular game as it is being played by reviewing thereal time results obtained by the central command server from the gameplay site or sites. This watching of a game via the central commandserver can further be enhanced through the use of a location tracking,such as triangulation or global positioning satellite system (GPS), inconjunction with each player at a particular site, such that the servercan provide a graphical representation of the relative positions of eachplayer in the game to a person viewing via the Internet.

Numerous other aspects, features and advantages of the present inventionwill be made apparent from the following detailed description, takentogether with the drawing figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawing figures illustrate the best mode currently contemplated ofpracticing the present invention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a gun and player equipment used in thegaming system of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an isometric view of a second embodiment of the gun of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an isometric view of a gun adapter set used in the system ofFIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the game play system of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With reference now to the drawing figures in which like referencenumerals designate like parts throughout the disclosure, a player 10participating in a combat simulation gaming system constructed accordingto the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 1. The equipment 12utilized by the player 10 to participate includes a marker or gun 14,and optionally one or more of a vest 16 or other garment worn on thetorso of the player 10, and a helmet 18.

The gun 14 can be any suitable firearm that is originally constructed orretrofit to include an infrared (IR) transmitter 20 and a receiver 22,which can be integral or separate from one another o the gun 14. Thetransmitter 20 and receiver 22 can also be configured to operate using adiode package or a laser package using a laser of different frequencies,and/or by transmitting and receiving data using radio frequency (RF)wireless communications preferably in conjunction with the IR beamtransmission. In a preferred embodiment, the gun 14 is a conventionalpaintball marker 24, best shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, which is retrofit byattaching an IR emitting barrel 26 to the barrel 28 of the marker 24,and an electronic hopper receiver and display 30 in place of aconventional paintball hopper (not shown).

The IR emitting barrel 26 is adapted to be attached, e.g., slid directlyover and engaged, with the barrel 28 of the marker 24, with the emittingend 32 of the barrel 26 being positioned over the outlet end (not shown)of the marker barrel 28. Any suitable engagement means 29 can beemployed on the barrel 26 to hold the emitting barrel 26 on the markerbarrel 28, such as a clamp, screw, frictionally-engaging member or othersuitable device that enables the emitter barrel 26 to remain secured tothe marker 24 while in use. Additionally, any suitable IR or otherwavelength beam emitter (not shown) can be disposed within the emitterbarrel 26, such that the emitter is positioned in substantial axialalignment with the longitudinal axis of the marker barrel 28, to ensurethat beams emitted from the emitter barrel 26 travel along the pathindicated by the axis of the marker barrel 28.

To operate the emitter barrel 26, the barrel 26 is coupled to the marker24 in a manner that enables the barrel 26 to sense the depressing of thetrigger 25 of the marker 24, and consequently emit an IR beam inresponse to the depression of the trigger 25. This connection betweenthe trigger 25 and the emitter barrel 26 can be made in any suitable andavailable manner, such as by utilizing a sensor (not shown) operablyconnected to the trigger 25 and to the emitter barrel 26 to sense themotion of the trigger 25 and operate the emitter barrel 26. However, ina preferred embodiment, the marker 24 including the emitter barrel 26 isutilized with a compressed gas canister 27 (FIG. 1) attached to themarker 24 in a conventional manner via a suitable coupling 31. Thus,when the trigger 25 is depressed by a player 10, the compressed gas,(e.g., carbon dioxide, nitrogen, air, or other inert or hydrocarbongases, among others) released from the canister 27 due to the normaloperation of the marker 24 passes through the marker barrel 28 andoptionally at least a portion of the emitter barrel 26, such as aportion of the emitter barrel 26 that is positioned within the markerbarrel 28. The emitter barrel 26 is configured to sense the pulse ofcarbon dioxide passing through the barrel 28, such as by a suitablesensor (not shown) disposed in the marker barrel 28 or to sense thevibration caused by the air or gas travelling through the barrel 28 ofthe gun 14, such as through the use of a suitable device or sensor,e.g., an accelerometer (not shown), and to emit an IR beam at the timethe gas pulse or vibration is sensed. In this manner, the emitter barrel26 enables the marker 24 to be used in a conventional configuration,thereby retaining the sounds, recoil and other feel characteristics ofthe conventional operation of the marker 24.

The receiver and display 30 is mounted to the marker 24 in any suitablemanner and preferably by using the same connection present on the marker24 to attach a paintball hopper (not shown) to the marker 24, such as aclamp 33. The receiver and display 30 includes a suitable internal powersource (not shown) as is known, which can be a removable and replaceablesource, such as a battery, or a rechargeable and permanent power sourceretained within the receiver and display 30.

The receiver and display 30 further includes an internalreceiver/transmitter (not shown) as is known that is capable ofreceiving and recording signals in the form of IR beams, such as fromthe emitter barrel 26, and to send and receive information from othersources using wireless RF transmissions. The data sent and received fromthe receiver and display 30 can be viewed on a display 34 positioned atone end of the receiver and display 30, and preferably in allocationthat is readily viewable by a player 10 utilizing the marker 24. Theparticular data shown in the display 34 can be changed through the useof a control panel 36 disposed on the receiver and display 30, such thata player 10 can locate the desired information on the display 34. Thecontrol panel 36 can also include buttons or switches 38 that provideother functions to the control panel 36, such as to turn power to thereceiver and display 30 on and off, among others.

The receiver and display 30 is additionally operably connected to the IRemitting barrel 26, such as via a cable 35 and pin 37 connected to thebarrel 26 that is insertable within a receptacle 39 on the receiver anddisplay 30, in order to function as a power supply for the barrel 26,and to monitor the operation of the barrel 26 in manner to be described.

In addition the marker 24, emitter barrel 26 and receiver and display30, as shown in FIG. 1, the player 10 can also be outfitted with a vestor other suitable garment 16, and a helmet 18. The vest 16 is formed ofany suitable fabric or other material and includes one or more wirelessreceiver/transmitters 40. The receiver/transmitter 40 is configured todetect or receive IR beams emitted by the guns 14 of other players 10,and to transmit and receive RF data. To assist in detecting IR beamsstriking the vest 16, multiple receiver/transmitters 40 can be disposedon the vest 16, in any location on the vest 16. The receiver/transmitter40 can also function to relay RF data to and from the receiver anddisplay 30 on the marker 24, to increase the speed of communication ofthe RF data, and to reduce the interference created by multiple players10 by increasing the communication bandwidth, such that up to onethousand players 10 can participate in a single combat simulation game.

The helmet 18 is configured similarly to the vest 16, with areceiver/transmitter (not shown) used to detect IR beams and to transmitand receive RF data. In addition, the helmet 18 can also be constructedto include other features, such as a headset (not shown) with microphoneand speaker (not shown) to enable the helmet 18 to facilitatecommunication between players 10 on a team. Also, the helmet 18, or thevest 16, can be configured with a location or GPS position-trackingdevice (not shown) in a known manner, such that it is possible todetermine the exact location of a player 10 during the game play. Inaddition, the helmet 18 can be configured as another suitable type ofheadgear, or as a band (not shown) or other suitable device that can beattached to an existing helmet, hat or other type of headgear.

Referring now to FIG. 4, when participating in a combat simulation game,the player 10 uses the gun 14 to target and shoot at opposing players10. When a player 10 takes a shot, in addition to the operation of theemitter barrel 26 described above, the beam emitted from the gun 14 is“marked” with an identifier unique to the individual player 10. Thus,when an opposing player 10 is struck by the beam, i.e., one of thereceivers 30 or 40 on the player 10 being shot at registers the beamstriking the receiver 30 or 40, the various receivers 30 and 40 on theopposing player 10 can not only register the hit, but also identify theplayer 10 who took the shot. Further, the transmitter 30 or 40 on theplayer 10 who was hit also transmits a signal back to the player 10 whotook the shot, as well as to other players 10 involved in the game oneach team, that the shot was successful, thus changing the status of the“shot” player 10 with regard to the continuing combat simulation game.All of this information can then be viewed on the display 34 to providea visual indication of the status of the game, in addition to otherrelevant information on the game play, such as the type of game beingplayed, the time elapsed in the game play, and the operatingcharacteristics of the marker 24, if the characteristics are availableto be changed, among others.

In addition to transmitting information concerning the hits on variousplayers 10 between the receivers and transmitters 30 and 40 on eachplayer 10, if the players 10 are also equipped with position or GPSlocators, the transmitters 30 and 40 can also send informationconcerning the location of other team members, which can be representedon the display 34.

Apart from information being relayed between the various players 10involved in the simulation combat game, all of this information can alsobe relayed by one of the transmitters 30 or 40 to a system 50 includinga local receiving server 100 located at the particular gaming location110. Further, in addition to the data concerning the hits and status ofthe individual players 10, information can be forwarded from each of thereceiver and displays 30 concerning the number of shots taken by anindividual player 10. This is accomplished by the receiver and display30, which can record each instance of the trigger 25 being activated,and sends a corresponding signal to the server 100 indicating the shotwas fired, regardless of whether there is a subsequent signal sent fromthe receiver/transmitters 30 or 40 on an opposing player 10 indicatingthe shot was successful. Also, not only will players 10 send theirindividual scores to the server 100 for calculation, the server 100 willbe configurable to change the game play while the game is actually inprogress. This can be accomplished by the server 100 by sending commandsto individual receiver/transmitters 30 and 40 on each player 10, amongother manners. Further, the server 100 also receives signalsrepresenting the particular locations of each player 10, such that theserver 100 can send signals to the players 10 to illustrate thelocations of selected players 10, such as a the teammates of a player10, on the display 34 for that player 10, as well as to other viewingsources, as will be described. In addition, it is possible for theinformation to be transmitted to the server 100 on a periodic basis,such that the server 100, if necessary, has sufficient time to processall of the data transmitted to it via the various sources.

Within the system 50, all of this information received by the server 100can then be routed to a remote central command server 200. At thisserver 200, the information can be utilized to compile playerperformance data for each player 10, which can be based in part on anynumber of data received concerning the game play of the particularplayer 10, including, but not limited to, the number of shots taken, thenumber of successful shots, the length of time spent in an active rolein game, etc. This data can be combined with other data recorded withinthe server 200 from previous combat simulation games for the individualplayer 10 to create more detailed player performance data, e.g., aranking, for the player 10 with regard to other players 10 havingprofiles for game play stored within the system 50 on the server 200.The profiles for each player 10 can be created on the system 50 andstored in the server 200 in any suitable and known manner, e.g., such asby having the player 10 purchase a subscription enabling the player 10to access and create a profile on the system 50, in order to provide theability for the information about the particular player 10 to be storedin the appropriate location on the system 50, i.e., the profile of theplayer 10, in manner that enables the player 10 to access and view therecords stored on the system 50. The player performance data can becompiled in the system 50 by the server 100 and/or 200 to form anoverall ranking for the payer 10, or multiple rankings for the variousindividual aspects of the data collected in the servers 100 and/or 200,including, but not limited to, the number of shots taken, the number ofsuccessful shots, and the length of time spent in an active role ingame, among others.

In addition, the server 200 can be operably connected to multipleservers 100, such as via the Internet, in order to receive and compileinformation on players 10 from multiple gaming locations 110 eithersequentially or simultaneous to create a real-time ranking system. Withthis ranking system, it is possible for players 10 who are registered orotherwise enabled to access the system and/or server 200 to review theplayer rankings for themselves and for other players 10 from all overthe world.

Further, based on the real-time transmission of the data from theplayers 10 to the server 100 and to the server 200, it is also possiblefor players in remote locations 300 to access the server 200 via theInternet and get real-time updates to the player rankings based on gameplay being conducted at the locations at which the players 10 arelocated. The data supplied from the players 10 participating in the gamecan be compiled and used by the server 200 to update the rankings as thegame is being played, and to enable a player logged onto the server 200from a remote location to view the changes in the rankings as theyoccur. The rankings can be broken down by teams, individual fields orgames or set of games, state level, national level, and worldwideranking, among other possible group or individual ranking divisions.

In addition, for game play situations where the players 10 are equippedwith GPS locators, the server 200 can also provide a real-time schematicview of the game play as it occurs using the triangulation or GPSlocators for each player 10 that send signals to the server 100, asdiscussed previously. Alternatively, if one or more players 10 areequipped with video cameras (not shown) it will be possible to provide avideo feed from one or more of the cameras to a remote player throughthe servers 100 and 200 to give a live video view of the game.

In another adaptation of the system 50, the game play can be alteredthrough the use of various electronic props (not shown). These props mayinclude but will not be limited to: helmets, land mines, grenades,detonation devices, tanks, etc. Each individual prop will also have theability of being able to interact wirelessly with individualreceiver/transmitters 30 and 40 on each player 10 and also the server100 at each gaming site 110.

The foregoing description is merely illustrative of the presentinvention and various alternatives are contemplated as being within thescope of the present invention though not specifically discussed herein.

1. A system for conducting a combat simulation game, the systemcomprising: a) at least one beam emitting device adapted to be used by aplayer participating in the game; b) at least one beam detecting deviceadapted to be used by another player participating in the game; c) atleast one transmitting device operably connected to at least one of theat least one beam emitting device or the at least one beam detectingdevice; d) at least one central processing unit configured to receivesignals from the at least one transmitting device and compile playerperformance data for individual players therefrom.
 2. The system ofclaim 1 further comprising at least one remote computing deviceconfigured to access the at least one central processing device to viewthe player performance data, wherein the at least one remote computingdevice is operably connected to the at least one central processing unitvia the Internet.
 3. The system of claim 1 wherein the at least onecentral processing unit is configured to update existing playerperformance data stored in the at least one central processing unit. 4.The system of claim 3 wherein the at least one central processing unitupdates the player performance data in real-time.
 5. The system of claim1 further comprising at least one receiving device adapted to be used byone of the players participating in the game and able to receive signalsfrom the at least one central processing unit.
 6. The system of claim 1further comprising at least one position-defining device operablyconnected to one of the at least one beam emitting device or the atleast one beam detecting device and configured to send a position signalto the at least one central processing unit.
 7. The system of claim 1further comprising multiple central processing units disposed atmultiple distinct geographic locations.
 8. The system of claim 1 whereinthe player performance data takes the form of rankings of the individualplayers.
 9. A method of determining the player performance of a playerin a simulated combat game, the method comprising the steps of: a.providing a simulated combat game system including at least one beamemitting device adapted to be used by a player participating in thegame, at least one beam detecting device adapted to be used by anotherplayer participating in the game, at least one transmitting deviceoperably connected to at least one of the at least one beam emittingdevice or the at least one beam detecting device, and at least onecentral processing unit configured to receive signals from the at leastone transmitting device and compile player performance data forindividual players therefrom; b. sending signals from the at least onebeam emitting device or the at least one beam receiving device via theat least one transmitting device to the at least one central processingunit; and c. compiling the signals in the central processing unit tocreate the player performance data.
 10. The method of claim 9 whereinthe step of compiling the signals into the player performance datacomprises the steps of: a. determining a number of player performancevalues from the signals; and b. calculating a comparative player valuebased on the player performance values.
 11. The method of claim 10wherein the step of calculating the comparative player value comprisesusing the comparative player value to form a ranking in comparison withcomparative player values of other players.
 12. The method of claim 9wherein the system includes at least one remote computing deviceconfigured to access the at least one central processing device to viewthe player performance data, the method further comprising the step ofviewing the player performance data from the remote computing device.13. The method of claim 12 further comprising the steps of: a.transmitting the player performance data from the at least one centralprocessing unit to the at least one remote computing device; and b.storing the payer performance data in the at least one remote computingdevice.
 14. The method of claim 9 wherein the step of compiling datacomprises compiling data from multiple beam emitting devices andmultiple beam receiving devices.
 15. The method of claim 14 wherein thestep of compiling data comprises compiling data from multiple beamemitting devices and multiple beam receiving devices at multiplegeographic locations.
 16. The method of claim 15 wherein the step ofcompiling data comprises compiling data in multiple central processingunits at multiple geographic locations.
 17. The method of claim 16wherein the system includes at least one remote computing deviceconfigured to access the at least one central processing device to viewthe player performance data, the method further comprising the step oftransmitting the comparative player data to the at least one remotecomputing device.